The nest I've been watching has finally had some action. After several days of wing exercises, one of the juvies has done a few tentative liftoffs -- for about five seconds, then right back down. They start getting the idea when the wind comes up in the afternoons, which is bad light. This was about 6 pm, 2.5 hours before sunset but there were some very thin high clouds softening the light just a little, by sunny California standards. Her male sibling is getting the idea, too. There was a third which I haven't seen for about 10 days. It seemed to be less active and I'm afraid something happened to it.
1DX2, 600 II + 1.4X III, ISO 1600, f/9, 1/2500 sec. Cropped to about 70% of the full frame. Very minimal LR adjustments and into PS to trim three awkward branches in the nest.
Considering the time of day, the light worked out quite well, soft enough to allow good detail under the wings. The sibling watching adds a lot. Your long focal length reduced the apparent height of the nest which is more flattering.
In perfect world, nice if the substructure of the nest box not showing, but unless you can climb up and do some stick rearranging, that will have to do! Perhaps the parents will drop a few more sticks in that area for you!
Thanks, everyone! I would SO love to get up to that nest and do some pruning. It's on a platform on a utility pole 35-40 ft high. Even putting the 2X on the 600 doesn't give me much change in perspective and just means a longer slog through a vineyard.
Interestingly, I've seen the babies do some minor rearranging of sticks in the nest, but never the ones I'd like them to move. In the nest I watched last year (and hope is a little behind this one in development this year) one of the juvies was getting ready to test fly and picked up a branch that was in the way of his chosen perch and dumped it overboard. It was hanging from a square piece of wood sticking out from the nest (on a similar platform). The vineyard manager pointed it out once and said, "See that stick he's sitting on? It's a grape stake. WE didn't put it there!" They are redwood and do get fairly lightweight when old and dry, but it was amazing that it got hauled up there and secured under the bunch of sticks that make the nest.
No more test flights the last two days as there was no wind. The babies looked as frustrated as I was. A little more wind forecast the next few days but it will be severe clear and hot. They are getting so close!
Sounds like lots of fun. That little guy's head poking up is just to sweet! I love the curled talons. I agree with Randy (and yourself) about the platform, but I like it there to anchor the image and provide nesting context nonetheless.
Diane, late to the party! All the good things said. Love the second pair of eyes watching in amazment, the apprehension in the test pilots face. You have made the difficult light look good. I can appreciate the hard work in getting this capture.
I do hope the third bird is OK and will eventually be seen. I had three white faced hereon babies almost fledge in my paddock last year. They were at the stage of hopping from tree to tree and greeting the parents when they bought home the dinner. A severe thunder storm knocked them down to the ground just on night fall. (We are plagued by feral foxes, so not an ideal place for babies to be). We could only find one the next day, and he had made it back up to his nest tree. He stayed for another day. (His parents seemed to have disappeared as well) I saw him lift his wings and face the wind, just as you have described, and he floated off the branch, flew some very wide circles and disappeared over the hill. A pair of herons came back this year.
Nice pose and details Diane. Besides a bit of the wood showing, this one looks great.
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Juvenile Osprey taking flying lessons
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